More Florida families are living on the brink of poverty  

The system of measurement — called the ALICE threshold — uses census data and cost of living adjustments specific to ZIP codes to identify households that don’t earn enough to cover the cost of basic needs. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. In short, it’s a measurement of the working poor. The report published Wednesday documents the pandemic’s effect on Floridians living below the ALICE threshold. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Disney sues Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleges political effort to hurt its business

Disney sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday over the Republican’s takeover of its theme park district, alleging the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a law critics call “Don’t Say Gay.” It’s the latest conflict in an ongoing feud between DeSantis, a Republican expected to run for president, and Disney, a powerful political player and major tourism driver in Florida. More from the AP, CNBC, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Orlando Sentinel.

DeSantis touts Florida economy and net migration in courting Japanese businesses

There's a lot of economic opportunity for Japanese investment in Florida because of its strong economic growth, Gov. Ron DeSantis said during an international trade mission roundtable in Tokyo, Japan, where he met with members of the Japan Business Federation. Japan was the first stop in a multi-country trade mission the governor is leading this week, where he'll be meeting with business and political leaders in South Korea, Israel and the U.K. [Source: The Center Square]

Florida court to consider if customer orders are trade secrets

Florida businesses seeking to crack-down on competition got a boost Wednesday when an appeals court said companies’ customer order information could qualify as protected trade secrets. The state’s 4th District Court of Appeals said that Patient Depot, a broker of personal protective equipment, or PPE, could bring claims that its trade secrets were misappropriated by a former contractor who used its customer order information to start a competing business in the fall of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. [Source: Bloomberg News]

How limits on demonstration at the Florida Capitol affect free speech

New rules restricting demonstrations at the Florida Capitol went into effect last month, just before the start of the legislative session. The rules set out by the Department of Management Services limit demonstrations to outside spaces at the capitol complex in Tallahassee. Requests to reserve space inside the capitol have to be made through the head of a state agency, legislative leaders or the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court. People violating the rules can be removed by police. [Source: WLRN]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Port Canaveral revamps budget projection with record passenger counts [Orlando Sentinel]
The crowds have been coming to the cruise lines at a higher rate than planned at Port Canaveral, so officials have reprojected what was already set to be record numbers to a total that’s more than double what it saw before the COVID-19 pandemic. The adjusted budget projection for the fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30, calls for operating revenue of $180.3 million, the majority of which comes from more than $150 million from cruise and parking revenues.

› JEA sets goals for clean energy: Are they high enough and what will it cost you? [First Coast News]
JEA's board just approved its plan to become more environmentally friendly, but is it enough and what will it cost you? The utility's goal is to get to 35 percent clean energy generation in the next seven years. Last year JEA was getting two percent of its energy from renewable sources and now the CEO says they're just under four percent.

› Report: Almost half of households in Sarasota-Manatee region live paycheck-to-paycheck [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Almost half of all families in the Suncoast region struggled to keep their heads above water through the pandemic despite massive federal relief programs that are now ending, according to a new report. The findings come from the updated ALICE Report, released Wednesday by United Way Suncoast and its research partner United For ALICE.

› Broward’s historic flooding caused more than $100 million in losses, major damage to 1,095 homes, and job layoffs [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A detailed, preliminary assessment of damage from the historic April 12-13 flooding in Broward County reported more than $100 million of damage, “major damage” to almost 1,100 homes and hundreds of temporary and permanent layoffs by affected businesses. The damage assessment was contained in a request Tuesday from Gov. Ron DeSantis to President Joe Biden for federal assistance to help pay for the aftermath of the flooding that dumped nearly 26 inches of rain at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in a 24-hour period.

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› Sarasota Ballet to make international debut at Royal Ballet’s Ashton festival in London [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The Sarasota Ballet, which has built a growing international reputation on the strength of its performances of works by Sir Frederick Ashton, has been invited to perform Ashton choreography for a week in 2024 at The Royal Ballet in London, where he was a longtime principal choreographer, associate director and director. It will mark the company’s international debut after past performances at the Joyce Theater in New York City, the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Beckett, Massachusetts and the Kennedy Center.

› Jacksonville City Council votes 14-4 to allow public notices on city website [Jacksonville Daily Record]
After more than an hour of debate, the Jacksonville City Council approved legislation April 25 that allows city agencies to cease publishing public notices in the Jacksonville Daily Record and The Florida Times-Union print and online newspapers and move them to a city-controlled website. Council voted 14-4 to pass Ordinance 2023-0187.

› St. Petersburg now has Lime electric bikes [Tampa Bay Times]
St. Petersburg residents and tourists can now rent an electric bike. Lime, an e-bike and scooter company under Uber, debuted its fleet of 300 e-bikes in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Lime said in a media release. It’s part of a new bike program announced last month after St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved a three-year contract with Lime to supply a fleet of rental e-bikes.

› SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch attempt pushed to Thursday near sunset on the Space Coast [Orlando Sentinel]
SpaceX’s bazooka over in Texas still has some kinks to work out, but it still has its big guns in the form the Falcon Heavy rocket set for its sixth ever launch on Thursday, a delay from earlier plans to launch today. It’s the most powerful rocket that launches with any regularity on the market, essentially three Falcon 9′s strapped together, that aim to lift off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A during a 57-minute launch window that opens at 7:29 p.m. with a backup window Friday during the same time. Sunset on Thursday comes at 7:54 p.m.